Microsoft Delivers Azure Toolkit for Windows 8

WEBINAR:On-Demand

Microsoft's Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 enables developers to build applications for Windows 8 that can take advantage of the cloud compute and storage capabilities of Windows Azure.

ANAHEIM, Calif. Microsoft has released a new toolkit for developers to take advantage of the cloud capabilities of Windows Azure from Windows 8 Metro style applications.

The Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 is designed to make it easier for developers to create a Windows Metro style application that can harness the power of Windows Azure Compute and Storage, said Windows Azure technical evangelist Nick Harris in a Sept. 14 blog post.

At the Microsoft BUILD conference here, Microsoft Server and Tools President, Satya Nadella, announced the new toolkit that gives developers guidance as well as templates and tools for tapping into Azure from Metro apps.

The Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 includes a Windows 8 Cloud Application project template for Visual Studio that makes it easier for developers to create a Windows Metro style application that utilizes services in Windows Azure, Harris said.

This template generates a Windows Azure project, an ASP.NET MVC 3 project, and a Windows Metro style JavaScript application project, Harris said. Immediately out-of-the-box the client and cloud projects integrate to enable push notifications with the Windows Push Notification Service (WNS). In addition, the Windows Azure project demonstrates how to use the WNS recipe and how to leverage Windows Azure Blob and Table storage.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced the Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices, consisting of tools for Windows Phone, iOS, and Android. Using the toolkits, developers can use the cloud to accelerate the creation of applications on the major mobile platforms. Now Microsoft has extended many of those back-end capabilities so developers can take advantage of a scalable cloud platform to power Metro style applications on Windows 8.

Specifically, the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 includes:

Guidance in the forms of code samples, documentation and best practices